


Your Grievances Show

by InkandOwl



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Domestic, Drinking to Cope, F/M, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 14:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkandOwl/pseuds/InkandOwl
Summary: Atticus Lincoln isn't one to drown his sorrow in a bottle of wine, but if it's happening on Nico Kim's couch while he's trying to do things likeredecorate, then it's exactly what he needs.Link gets stood up on Valentine's Day and laments to his best friend.





	Your Grievances Show

Atticus Lincoln is a grown man.

A grown man full of expensive wine and at least half a bottle of Nico’s favorite gin. He rolls onto his back, face unsticking from the leather couch and narrows his eyes at the weird, ambient blue lights in the ceiling. “Am I a bad person? Be honest with me, am I actively ignoring terrible qualities about myself that everyone else can see?” Link is absolutely _not_ going to cry. 

“No—” Nico’s voice is partially muffled and there’s a clicking sound of his teeth trying to work through a plastic zip tie, but he pauses whatever it is he’s doing to say, “I wouldn’t stand you up on a date.” Nico doesn’t really do anything to mask just how miffed he is with Meredith Grey. 

And then he’s back to chewing on plastic. 

“What is that, man?” Link is almost relieved that Nico is doing something relatively strange that he can comment on. 

Nico holds it up, wadded material with roosters on it, “It’s a dish towel. It was on sale at Ikea when I went to get a new dresser— I thought it was kind of neat.” 

Link looks from the terrycloth farm animals to Nico— the man who had very proudly shown off his ability to take a cement mixer shot the first time they met— and he works his thumb into the corner of his eye, “You’re very domesticated now.” 

He says it like Nico was some feral creature before, and he sort of was, albeit a harmless and garden variety sort of feral. 

There’s a scraping noise at the front door and they both turn their attention to it, Link draping himself over the arm of the couch to watch the door handle in anticipation. It’s either a drunk, or Levi— both being the only things in the world making this much clatter to get into a house. Or maybe it’s a drunk Levi. 

It’s a sober, yet exhausted Levi, in the end, and he drops his keys on the table with a sigh, “I guess my hands don’t work anymore.” 

Nico glides right over that remark and chirps, “Happy Valentine’s Day! Sort of.” It’s 2:20 in the morning on February 15th. Link actually feels bad now. Awash with guilt that he’s monopolized his best friends time on his first valentine’s day with his boyfriend, who he probably very much wants to be alone with. 

Levi gets all soft at that, pulling his hands to his chest and very lightly saying, “Yeah, Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

Link whines, “I should go, I’m ruining your night.” He attempts to sit up, all of the alcohol sitting up with him. 

A lot of things happen that would blend into the fabric of a regular day, but now they’re all very stand out in Link’s drunk mind. Nico shoves the zip tie back into his mouth, eyes following Link’s movement lazily and Levi regards him with a gentle, “Hi, Dr. Link.” Then he’s filling a glass with water and bringing it over to the couch, “You’re not really in shape to be roaming around Seattle.” 

Link wasn’t planning on _roaming_ , but he’s not about to argue with the man who’s brought him a glass of water in an attempt to save his life. “Dr. Grey stood me up. I got us a table at a restaurant _on Valentine’s Day_ and she just never showed up. Didn’t text or call or anything.” He thinks that maybe telling his story to Levi will further validate him in his pain. 

Levi sits down on the edge of the coffee table, eyebrows furrowed together carefully, “That’s not a very nice thing to do to someone.” He says it with the confidence of a person frequently on the receiving end of having ‘not very nice’ things done to them. When Link really digests that he’s talking to Levi Schmitt— Glasses, Blood Bank, Hey-You-Move— he suddenly feels like this rejection is small potatoes. 

And he’s said it out loud because Levi huffs out a laugh and tells him, “This isn’t the hurt feelings Olympics, that was a really shitty thing to happen to you.” Levi leans forward and touches the tips of his fingers to Link’s knee, baby deer eyes all sympathetic and _green_. 

Link gets the appeal. He sort of wants to ball Levi up and squish him against his chest, like an emotional support intern. The moment is ruined when there’s more slobbery clicking from Nico and Levi closes his eyes with a slow annoyance. “Nico, what are you doing?” 

“It’s a dishtowel.” He says again, like this is enough of an explanation. 

Levi presses the tips of his fingers to his own mouth and Link’s under the impression that he’s trying to either hold back a laugh or some sort of declaration of disappointment. “Right—” He spares Link a glance and it genuinely makes him laugh for the first time tonight, “I’m going to get scissors, honey, stop doing that.” 

He says ‘Honey’ so easily— slipped on as comfortably as a favorite pair of pajamas, and Link watches him disappear into the kitchen. “Keep him.” 

Nico lets the towel fall into his lap and leans back against his palms, “Levi? I plan to.” 

He’s all toothy, smug grin and Link collects the throw pillow under his head, “So when did you pick out the ring? Was it the day after you banged him in an ambulance or—”

Nico holds his hand up, “Oh, please, I hadn’t even met him yet. I saw his picture on the intern listing and I circled it like a classified. It was like online shopping.” 

Link laughs even louder then and Nico seems completely pleased with himself, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest. “You got a lot of energy tonight, Kim.” 

“Sure. Cause it’s Valentine’s Day and my boyfriend’s home.” He lifts his eyebrows suggestively and Levi rounds the corner to shove the handle of the scissors towards him. 

“Your boyfriend just got off a 32 hour shift, and is going to take a shower and go to bed.” Levi tells him, but he leans forward and kisses Nico, slow and sweet. It’s the most reverent Link’s ever seen someone kiss their significant other, “Goodnight. Goodnight, Link.” Levi clears his throat to address him, offering up a flustered grin. 

It’s incredible really, to see someone still so obviously ruffled by their partner, and Levi is practically twitching to keep himself off of Nico. Links smiles and waves as Levi disappears into the bedroom, waiting until he hears the shower turn on to face Nico, “I should go.” 

Nico does a whole lot of complicated shrugging, “It’s fine, you can crash here—”

“It’s Valentine’s Day.” 

“I know, we’ve been talking about this.”

Link leans back against the couch, “Your man is taking his clothes off right now, why are you fucking around with a dishtowel, still talking to me?” 

The conflicted face journey that Nico goes on makes almost all of this worth it and Link bites back a grin as he pushes his hand into his hair, “Right, but he said he was tired, and you had a terrible night, I don’t want—” 

Nico is such a great friend at the very core of himself and Link stands up, smoothing out the front of his fancy dress pants, “You made this night pretty great, all things considered, and it would make me happy if you got laid.” Link explains carefully, “Schmitt was just saying all of that to make me feel better about crashing your Valentine’s, trust me.” 

Nico glances back towards the bedroom, “Was he?” 

Idiot. Link reaches forward to ruffle Nico’s hair, “Have fun, sleep in tomorrow, have more fun, you know the drill.” Link lets Nico follow him to the door while he open up his Uber app, “Oh—” Link spins on his heels, swaying a little, “Levi’s a really great guy, and I’m really happy you have each other. He’s got a lot of love for you and you deserve that.” 

Nico makes that face he does whenever the dial up connection in his brain is working to get back online, and when it does he smiles softly, “He is really great.” It’s an admission, not the start to some dumb joke like they’re been lobbying at each other all night, “You deserve someone who will love you too, Link. All of this—” Nico waves his hand in front of him to indicate the clusterfuck of tonight, “Put all of this behind you. It was childish, and now we move on. You’re gonna find someone really awesome.”

It makes Link tear up a little and he hugs Nico as tight as he can, doing enough manly back patting that he won’t be so embarrassed when he sobers up, “You smell so good.” Or maybe he will be. “Okay, I’m going now.” He pulls out of Nico’s grip, ignoring the laughter aimed at him. “Goodnight, Nico! Oh, should I be calling you Nico Schmitt soon, or is he going to be taking your last name? Will it be a hyphenate?”

“Goodnight, Link!” Nico leans against the door frame and watches him amble down the hallway. When the door to his apartment is finally shut Link smiles to himself. He may have been stood up for Valentine’s Day, and he knows that tomorrow he’s going to be nursing a monster hangover— despite Levi’s pity glass of water— but he doesn’t feel quite as lonely as he did when the night began.

**Author's Note:**

> You can come hang out with me on Tumblr at inkandowl !!


End file.
